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The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsebet Bathory (Paperback)

~ (Author), Alexander Trocchi (Translator)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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  • This item: The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsebet Bathory by Valentine Penrose

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  • Bathory: Memoir of a Countess by A. Mordeaux

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Descended from an aristocratic European family, Erzsebet Bathory bore the psychotic aberrations of centuries of intermarriage. From adolescence on, she indulged in sadistic lesbian fantasies, and by middle age, had regressed to a mirror-fixated state of pathological necro-sadism involving witchcraft, torture, blood-drinking, and more. Her 16th century reign of cruelty remains unsurpassed in the annals of mass murder, with the Countess? depredations on the virgin girls of the Carpathians leading to some 650 deaths id her many castles equipped with torture chambers. This is a true, disturbing case history of a female psychopath, a chillingly lyrical account beautifully translated by Alexander Trocchi, evoking the decadent melancholy of doomed, delinquent aristocracy in a dark age of superstition. The book contains an appendix featuring actual transcripts from Bathory’s trial and has inspired many horror movies, such as Hammer’s Countess Dracula.

De Sade did not know of Erzs‚bet Bathory’s existence, but doubtless her atrocities would have roused his most vicious excitement. -- Georges Bataille, The Tears Of Eros

About the Author

Valentine Penrose affiliated with the surrealists, she was also the wife of British Surrealist Sir Roland Penrose. This is her only full-length book.

Alexander Trocchi was a Scottish novelist affiliated with the Beats. His novels include Cain’s Book, and Young Adam, recently filmed with Ewan McGregor as the lead.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 154 pages
  • Publisher: Solar Books; Rev Tra edition (November 3, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0971457824
  • ISBN-13: 978-0971457829
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,905 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #57 in  Books > History > Europe > Hungary

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Valentine Penrose
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The details are buried..., May 10, 2007
By K Miller (Silver City, New Mexico) - See all my reviews
Penrose did a great deal of research--unfortunately the research involved the geography and history of the region, and not so much on Bathory. The interesting details of Bathory are buried at the end of each long winded section that is more concerned with her family geneology or relatives misbehavior than Bathory's.

The sources for the book are excellent, but I hate to read an entire chapter to have one paragraph dedicated to Bathory's atrocities (which were scant in the text...at the end of each chapter we are tittilated with a small detail then pounded again with astological non-sense or geographical trivia).

The section on her trial was relatively short...even with letters writen by those that discovered her henious acts. But its all so short---Penrose spends more time and details discussing another mass murderer of the same time who favored young boys (who killed roughly 60 like Bathory herself claims to have done) to show the depths of depravity--and you are left to wonder why the book wasn't on this killer that is spoken of in each chapter instead of Bathory who has very few details included on her crimes.

Select a different title if you are interested in Bathory.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The absolute freedom of the human creature is horrible, March 29, 2008
I read this book years ago when it had a different cover. The cover featured what looked like a string of pearls covered in blood. After I read the book I was struck at how appropriate the cover was for the story within. Penrose's focus is not solely Bathory herself. Rather, she is fascinated with the Hungarian society of the time and how that society was in many clear ways complicit in Bathory's crimes. It is easy to accuse the nobility of exploiting the peasants. One is inclined to advocate for the "little guy" in such a story. However, it was these very peasants who would drop off unwanted daughters at Erszebet Bathory's castles, knowing full well what would happen to them there because the countess's crimes were an open secret (servants talk). However, in a country that was constantly at war with the Turks and other enemies, there were many more women than men alive at the time and so there were many unmarried girls who were not likely to ever marry. I suppose the countess believed herself to be providing a sort of civic service by ridding Hungary of its surplus of spinsters. For this reason, I think that Penrose does a great job of presenting us Erszebet Bathory within the context of her society and times because her crimes by themselves are not the whole story. The society that allowed her to kill unfettered for 35 years is itself a truly important part of the story, adding a layer of meaning to Bathory's insane and meaningless crimes.

The way in which she was finally stopped is very telling. Bathory noticed that in spite of years of blood baths, she was still aging. Her resident witch, Jo Ilona, advised her to change the color of the blood from red to blue. Bathory then began to kill the daughters of the local nobility--and that was her mistake. So long as she was killing peasant girls no one cared, not even the "poor" peasants. As soon as she began killing aristocratic girls, she had to be stopped, and she was.

The examination of Bathory in her context allows us to draw parallels with our own times. Don't we have Kennedys who get away with rape nowadays? Don't we have football celebrities who get away with murdering their wives? People with status and prestige still get away with a lot--even in America, don't they? The only reason why Bathory was able to get away with her crimes for so long is her social status. She was a member of one of Hungary's founding families. It also helped that her first cousin was the King of Hungary, her uncle was the king of Russia, and her brother was the king of Poland. With such relatives she was herself untouchable. Reading this book you begin to see that although Bathory is dead and her crimes happened long ago, the circumstances that allowed her to commit her transgressions are still with us. For me, that was the scary part.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Bloody Countess, April 4, 2007
This book is very well researched and written. Keep in mind though that it's not for the faint hearted. It goes into a lot of detail on the history of Hungary and the Bathory family that some may find tedious. I loved the book and would reccomend it to anyone with a desire to take a peek into the darker side of human nature.
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